


Man or Monster

by syusuke



Series: The White Demon [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Hashirama is oblivious, Paperwork Is Boring, Second Hokage, Sensor Tobirama, Tobi's mind is drifting, Tobirama complies, Tobirama needs a break, brothers dynamic, little Tsunade, white demon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-12 21:09:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19237153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syusuke/pseuds/syusuke
Summary: Tobirama is doing paperwork and his mind starts drifting.(set after Hashirama's death and at the start of the first shinobi war)





	Man or Monster

He was still buried in paperwork. Now, when no one could see, his posture wasn’t so straight anymore, he was hunched over the desk. Straining to read in the dim candle light.

It was long past midnight, but here he was, doing a job he never wanted. Because there was no one else, because he was carrying the dream of two dead idiots.

_You’re gonna be great! You’ve been doing most of the paperwork anyway. We discussed it at the last council meeting – the one you couldn’t attend. I think you were on your way home with your Genins? Everyone agrees, you should be the second Hokage._

Tobirama didn’t pause. It was useless. The paperwork didn’t demand his whole attention and his mind was wandering. The reports were hardly worth reading, he already knew. Not for nothing – since he had started the ANBU news travelled faster. It had been easier before he became Hokage. He’d had the time to be hands on, training the first ANBU, leading them.

_Tobi! You can’t do that! I need you here, as my right hand, as a council member. Someone else can lead your ANBU. Maybe the younger Nara brother, what was his name?_

Sometimes he wished he had stood up more often. He knew that Shikaro had looked up to him and had been honored to lead the ANBU. But even back then, he had known. Part of what made him the most suitable leader of ANBU were his sensing abilities. In the whole ninja world there had been no one equal to him. There still wasn’t. There were still useless deaths.

_Come on, Tsuna! Get uncle Tobi!_

Mito had been kind after Hashirama’s death. She had sent Tsuna after him time and time again. The little girl had been his only joy at the time. It had been more difficult to take over as Hokage than any of them had anticipated. The clans had accepted him easily enough, but the civilians had been.. shocked? To them he was the White Demon of the Senju, the merciless killer, oncoming death. He was cold and calculating. A stark contrast to Hashirama’s warmth and disarming optimism. He had succeeded at the end. Calming the civilians by creating institutions to limit his powers. Indulging them, by granting access to the academy to anyone who wished to learn the ninja arts. – Something he had planned from the beginning, but he had been overruled by the council.

_Uncle Tobi! The other kids are mean! They said that you are a demon and – and that your eyes are red, because you drink your enemies blood.._

He had never been popular, not even within his own clan. Usually, stories like these didn’t bother him. It had no effect on him. People could believe what they wanted, as long as they respected his authority. But little Tsunade throwing herself into his arms and crying her heart out... It broke him. Even if those insults meant nothing to him, they hurt her. He remembered holding her for hours, trying to explain. Trying to tell her that sometimes people make up stories and that his eye color was unusual and people were scared of everything they couldn’t explain. He told her that it was alright, that he had become infamous in the wars between the clans. He had tried to explain that stories like these could save someone’s life. He did not tell her, that he was willing to bet his head and the bounty attached to it against the lives of his teammates and that he would never stop the rumors spreading because of it.

_Brother, promise me. Try to be nice to the Uchiha. We are one village now. The village is more important than any one clan. I will step down as clan head soon and serve only as Hokage. I know, my son will come to you for advice. Advice him well and give the Uchiha the benefit of the doubt. I beg you._

It had been difficult. All his life he had fought the Uchiha. His younger brothers had been killed by them. He would never forget the nightmares of spinning red eyes, the disgust when he saw his own in reflections. He could not forgive them for the deaths he’s seen. But he had sworn to try. He had taken on an Uchiha as a member of his Genin team. The child had never killed before, had no Senju blood on his hands. Before long, he favored the child. Young Kagami learned quickly and in many ways he reminded him of Kawarama. Full of confidence, yet absent-minded. A daydreamer. He found it endearing. Of course, he trained all his Genin to be fully alert on the field and he tried to teach them sensing. Hiruzen was the best at it, but even he only mastered the most fundamental bits.

_Tobirama-sama, please. You have to remain here. We have many capable shinobi. We’ll find another Jonin to lead your team. The Hokage should remain in the village. You are our strongest. You should be our last defense._

Ah... finally. That’s where his mind was going. Tobirama sighed. The council meeting had been tiring. There was a war going on and he knew there was some truth behind the council’s logic. But he could not send so many shinobi to the frontlines and not join them. That was not how they did it before the village and that was not what Hashirama had done in his time. He knew that his team was strong. He could appoint Hiruzen as teamleader and they would most likely be fine. But this was a matter of pride! He had done his outmost to get rid of child soldiers and he only ever became Hokage because there had been no one else. As far as he was concerned, there were many better options now. Damn the council, he would become the White Demon once more. This time he might actually deserve the moniker. Edo Tensei was ready for use. He could have never done it with Hashirama around, but now he would use his arsenal of forbidden jutsus. The ones so scarring that he’d never teach them.

Let it be known. The White Demon is back and he’s leading Konoha’s attack.


End file.
